Building a new house is a long, slow process

MOSES LAKE — Kris Butt knew what she wanted in the house she and her husband are building next to the water of Moses Lake.

It had to take maximum advantage of the outdoors. “We really enjoy working outside and bringing the outdoors in,” she said. “We wanted to bring the outdoors in – that was important to us.”

The new house has three sets of 12-foot sliding doors, all glass, looking out over the lake. The effect is just like she wanted, Kris said, a wall of windows, floor to ceiling.

The family built its current home, too. The home, in Black Diamond, a community in western Washington, has classic lines.

But Kris wasn’t interested in classic lines for the new house.

“I think we wanted something outside the box,” she said.

They collected a lot of pictures of designs that appealed to them, which they took to architect Christine Mills, of Enumclaw.

“She gave us even more ideas of how it could look modern,” Kris said.

The new Moses Lake house has a really unusual roofline, with three sections – not an ordinary gable design. The roof is also metal and black.

“I was real hesitant to go black on the roof, but it looks really nice,” Kris said.

The roof on the detached garage is similar to the roof of the house.

It’s partially sided with concrete blocks – three kinds of blocks to get the look her husband wanted.

“He is very particular. He wanted it to look just right,” she said.

Building a new house is always a challenge, and that’s even more true in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. The beams that will be used for the ceiling are a case in point. The first supplier she contacted was shut down at the time and didn’t know when he would reopen.

Finding the sliding glass doors would have been a challenge at any time. Windows must meet federal standards for energy efficiency, and it’s tough with that much glass.

The exterior lights also presented a problem. It was difficult to find something that fit in with the rest of the look. Kris found them in Arizona.

The interior ceiling also presented a dilemma. Kris didn’t want drywall or tongue-and-groove on her ceiling – not modern enough. She opted for beams suspended from the cathedral ceilings.

The living room will be divided into two sections with a wall made of glass. The fireplace will be built along the glass wall.

She has been acting as her own general contractor, and building a house is a process, “a slow process,” she said.

“The first thing my contractor said is, ‘How are you with change orders?’” she said. (A change order is issued when there’s a modification to the original contract, changing the scope of work.)

The 3,222-square-foot house should be finished by next summer, just in time for family get-togethers. There are four bedrooms and an apartment over the garage. That will have triple-decker, built-in bunk beds for the grandchildren.

It’s the second house the Butts have built in Moses Lake.

“We’ve been coming (to Moses Lake) for a long, long time,” Kris said. They’d camp at a local campground, go out to the dunes; the kids would play in the fountain, and everybody would go into town for ice cream. In 1990, they decided to ditch Moses Lake in favor of the ocean – only to run into torrential rains. “We kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s go back to Moses Lake,’” Kris said.

They built a home on McConihe Road, but there just wasn’t enough room for everybody, Kris said. So they sold it and started looking for land.

The new location has a lawn that can hold plenty of campers, an outdoor shower and room for family activities. But it won’t be just for vacations. “It’s a half-year home,” Kris said. “We’ll be there a lot, is our intention.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].